When I use the code mentioned below, I get the desired splash screen with fade out on the iPhone simulator, but the picture seems to be zoomed with factor 2: I only get the upper left quarter of my initial picture (= launch image), zoomed to full screen. The launch image itself is shown in correct size at startup, before the splash screen kicks in.

As for the fact that the splash screen didn't display on the device: this was caused by a difference in the filename. The extension in the code was in lower case, while the actual file had an upper case (PNG) extension.
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user1492198Nov 19 '12 at 20:29

Thanks very much! 1. and 2. solved my problem. 3. Didn't work for me: that change prevented my splash screen to show. What do I have to change or add to add a 1 second pause before the fade out? I would like to vote up, but don't seem to have earned enough reputation yet.. :(
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user1492198Nov 19 '12 at 20:41

I had updated example code to show how to add pause before fade out
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Andrey SolovievNov 19 '12 at 22:52

Thanks again! I tried the second solution and it works!
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user1492198Nov 21 '12 at 8:21

@Andrey Soloviev I have a question, i'm trying this now, but its not working for me. Im a little confused on what you meant by "correct contentMode". Im new to this I should warn you :). But im learning story board as we speak. I implemented this in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions and changed the source image to mines, also in storyboard, I did a view controller, with an image view inside, and set the image to be visible as a separate one. Can you help me as to what might be wrong/missing?
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SinMay 8 '13 at 4:21